Senior Contracts Associate, G-7

Senior Contracts Associate, G-7, Temporary Position, 364 days, Supply Division, outposted to Budapest, Hungary #00134406 (Open to EU Citizens or Valid Hungarian Work Permit Holders)

Apply now Job no: 596649

Contract type: Temporary Appointment

Duty Station: Budapest

Level: G-7

Location: Hungary

Categories: Administration

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to a Calling

The Service Contracting Centre (SCC) is part of UNICEF Supply Division, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Established in 2017, SCC was created to enhance efficiency, strengthen compliance, and provide specialized expertise in the procurement of services. The Centre leads and supports services contracting across a diverse range of categories for the four Centers of Excellence, Global Programme Divisions and other Headquarters Divisions. Through this role, the SCC has developed into a center of expertise and a key resource for service contracting, providing procurement guidance, category knowledge and strategic contracting support across UNICEF.

The Centre works closely with all Centers of Excellence and Headquarter Divisions. The Senior Contracts Associate performs highly skilled work in service contracting and supports the more complex cases and client requests, which frequently requires the evaluation of difficult situations and adaptation of procedures and processes to resolve such cases. This is the senior GS level for more specialized service contracting work and requires advanced service contracting knowledge acquired through training and experience.

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of the Contracts Specialist, the Senior Contracts Associate provides a broad range of high level transactional, procedural and administrative tasks in support of service contracting activities carried out by the Programme Services Unit on behalf of the Global Programme Divisions and Headquarter Divisions, ensuring timely and efficient output that is in compliance with UNICEF rules and regulations, whilst demonstrating the capacity to research, adapt and evaluate irregular cases, and also to recommend improvements to process delivery and design. At the GS-7 level, the below tasks are expected to be carried out with a high level of independence.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

• Provides input to and advice on the annual supply plan through coordination with UNICEF Global Programme Divisions, Centers of Excellence and other HQ Divisions. Conduct data review and analysis for category management and development of procurement strategies including collaboration with other UN agencies. In collaboration with the supervisor, develop procurement management strategies and best practices which help to strengthen supply chain systems which significantly contribute to Programme results. Conducts market research in relevant areas for UNICEF and advice on best approaches to obtain best value for money and sustainable procurement. Supports innovation and market shaping initiatives for specific service categories that support the organization to deliver on Programme commitments and the related targets in the strategic plans that include community engagement, social and behavior change, business engagement for results, humanitarian, development risk informed programming, scaling of innovative solutions for every child, and other cross cutting areas such as strengthening of evaluation capacity at the country level.
• Liaises with clients Divisions in planning procurement and contracting initiatives, supporting development of appropriate specifications, terms of reference, and contracting strategies and project timelines. Identifies opportunities to strengthen sustainability of supply chains. Provides support to Divisions through the requisitioning stage.
• Ensure establishment of Long-Term Arrangements (LTAs) and act on specific procurement requisitions as might be required. In consultation with supervisor, review and provide input on Terms of References for service contracting. Review technical evaluations to ensure equal assessment of suppliers and that scores are commensurate with comments. Prepare and process Request for Quotations (RFQs), Invitations to Bid (ITBs) and Requests for Proposals (RFPs), as might be requested by the Supervisor. Coordinate preliminary assessments and conduct technical and financial analysis of offers ensuring procurement processes are conducted in a timely manner with transparency and fairness, promoting competition to achieve value for money, as well as coordinate demo meetings with bidders as needed. Conduct pre-bid meetings, clarifications and negotiations with suppliers and contractors.
• Maintains highest level of integrity, ethical standards and accountability in the procurement and contracting of Program services. Supports and guides potential suppliers to register through the United Nations Market Place platform (UNGM).
• Prepare award recommendations including submissions to Contract Review Committee including facilitating supplier evaluations as required. Prepare purchase orders and Institutional Services contracts in SAP (ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning system), and submit for relevant approvals, ensuring completeness of documentation in UNICEF systems.
• Monitors and follows up on progress of contracts ensuring proper contract management is followed, and contracts are fully implemented. Coordinates required amendments to contracts and the evaluation of suppliers with respective contract managers, and ensures timely support is provided.
• Ensures appropriate filing of procurement documents on the SharePoint in accordance with UNICEF guidelines and maintains up to date records for future reference including for audit.
• Prepares procurement reports for services as requested by supervisor. Keeps supervisor abreast of potential problem areas. Conducts procurement analysis and provides inputs to reporting to management and Divisions client colleagues on procurement status, timelines, trends and KPIs.
• In collaboration with supervisor, Supply Division, provide input to help ensure knowledge exchange and learning is prioritized to continuously build capacity of individuals, the team and other UNICEF offices as required. Develop and facilitate training of newcomers, establish processes or standard operating procedures to support effective workflows.
• Any other duties or assignments as requested by the supervisor.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: JD - Senior Contracts Associate_GS7.pdf

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Completed Secondary Education is required.
• Work

Experience

• A minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience in supply chain management or a commercial context (contracting, procurement, supply) is required. A bachelor’s degree from a recognized academic institution in a field relevant to the position may replace three years of related work experience. A master’s degree may replace an additional two years.
• Experience working in a multicultural setting, working with diverse teams operating in various regions with different time zones.
• Skills: In-depth knowledge of the concepts, methodologies relevant to the area of work including the relevant supply chain policies, partnership mechanisms, rules and regulations, as well as general knowledge of other related fields.
• High level of proficiency or skill is required in the interpretation and application of specialized rules and regulations to circumstances of complex individual cases.
• Demonstrated understanding of the relevant service contracting proces